"We're resisting the corruption from deep underground every moment of our lives. Do you pity the commoners in the outer city? We're really no different from them. The only difference is the enemies we face."
The two talked for a long time. When Joey left, it felt as though a whole new door had opened in his heart.
Pedestrians were scattered along the streets, each seemingly busy trying to make a living and keep themselves fed.
By the time he returned to the little house amid the ruins, darkness had fallen.
The instant he stepped inside, Joey's hair stood on end, as though a pair of eyes were watching him from the shadows.
There was clearly nothing there, yet he felt as though countless beasts were staring at him.
This was the Fortune Teller's supernatural perception. After fully digesting the Potion, Joey had noticed a considerable improvement in all five senses.
"Something's wrong?"
He hurried over and opened the entrance to the basement. His expression changed drastically when he saw what lay inside.
The basement Alisa had kept so tidy was now a mess. Everything had been rifled through, the seeds in the culture dishes had been deliberately destroyed, and Alisa was nowhere to be found.
The air was damp and oppressive. With a heavy heart, Joey made his way through the cluttered passage and witnessed a heartbreaking scene-his home, once a warm and comfortable little house, had been ransacked.
The doors and windows were broken, the furniture smashed, and the picture frames on the walls lay scattered on the floor. Everything familiar had been ravaged. A suffocating sensation washed over Joey. His body trembled, and his heart filled with despair and fear. He could not believe his eyes. Everything he knew was gone, leaving only this dark, terrifying shell.
Joey carefully searched for clues, hoping to find some traces. Suddenly, he discovered a strange sheet of paper covered in odd symbols and patterns. Confusion and fear filled his heart. He had no idea what those symbols and patterns meant, or what they might bring.
As time passed, he gradually discovered more strange traces and objects, seemingly concealing secrets unknown to anyone.
Joey's expression was grim. Had the Necromancer Sect come again while he was away?
Step by step, he headed deeper inside, toward where Alisa's latest seeds had been kept-the seeds that could grow in the black soil.
Often, the very thing one feared most was what happened. The seeds were still there.
That left only one other possibility: whoever had taken Alisa was after him. The things they had left behind were a warning.
"Udir, you bastard. How dare he?"
Every clue pointed to the biggest farm owner in the West Borough, Udil Beckett.
One problem followed another. The matter of the Necromancer Sect had yet to be resolved, and now Udir had come knocking.
As for why, the problem probably lay with the person who had tailed him last time. A careful search around the aircraft's crash site would readily reveal traces of another person.
Joey had only his own carelessness to blame. After becoming a Transcendent, he had stopped worrying about the matter, never imagining it would lead to this.
"Udir, you brought this on yourself. Don't blame me."
Joey gritted his teeth and turned the revolver in his hand. It had been issued to him after he joined the Survey Corps, along with specially made silver bullets capable of inflicting special damage on Transcendents.
Under cover of darkness, he headed for Udir's farm.
All he could do now was hope he was not too late. During their time together, he had come to see Alisa as family, and after Old Tony's death, he treasured that bond even more.
Joey dared not imagine what he might do if something happened to Alisa too.
He had sneaked into Udil's farm more times than he could count. He knew its traps inside out and easily made his way into the back courtyard.
The moment he stepped inside, brilliant lights abruptly blazed all around him, illuminating the darkness.
A huge crowd appeared and surrounded Joey.
He immediately understood that they had prepared this trap long ago and had merely been waiting for him to walk into it.
"Udir, come out!"
He roared, but his only answer was a chorus of mocking laughter.
Instead of a reply from Udir, he received a mass assault from the blood slaves.
Noise shattered the silence as a hopelessly uneven battle began, leaving Joey to fight alone.
They were only lowly commoner blood slaves, but there were too many of them. Joey could only fight while retreating.
Thanks to his improved Beyonder physique, he held his own for a while. He darted through the crowd, twisting and turning to evade countless attacks. Whenever he found an opening, another person went down.
Even so, Joey could not hold out for long. Before long, wounds of varying sizes covered his body.
At this rate, sooner or later they would wear him down and kill him.
Once, if not for Old Tony's help, he too might have become some farm owner's blood slave, surviving by selling his blood.
He could not bring himself to kill these people. Although many lay on the ground, they had suffered only minor injuries.
Having to search for Udir while guarding against attacks was becoming too much for Joey. Exhaustion gradually overtook him.
Ultimately, Beyonders of the lowest three Sequences had limited offensive power, and he was only a Sequence 9 Fortune Teller. He had held out this long only because the blood slaves themselves were frail, their bodies already depleted by working for the farm owner every day. Had they been strong young adults, never mind fighting them-Joey probably could not even have escaped.
The Fortune Teller's innate perception and intuition allowed him to evade danger just before it reached him.
As time passed, Joey noticed something. Several times, when an enemy's blade was about to strike a vital spot, they abruptly pulled it back.
After this happened repeatedly, Joey was certain he was not imagining things. An idea struck him, and he deliberately left an opening. The crowd quickly rushed in, restrained him, and tied him up tightly.
He was certain they had another objective. Since he could not find Udir, he would make Udir appear on his own. He had not yet touched the revolver hidden in his sleeve.
With one person on either side, Joey was escorted deeper inside. After passing through a dark corridor, they reached a black iron door. The person on his left lightly tapped the latch.
Amid a clattering of machinery, the door opened, revealing Udir's plump face.
"Joey, you certainly kept me waiting! Why is he tied up? Untie him." His voice was full of mockery.
Joey rolled his aching neck, sat down on the sofa without invitation, and said impatiently:
"What are you playing at?"
Joey had no idea where Udir's confidence came from. Not only had he untied Joey's hands and feet, he even dared to be alone with him.
But a moment's thought made it clear. In Udir's eyes, he was merely an ordinary commoner. This was not only Kane Farm, but also a Dust Veil Master's dust-veiled domain.
Dim yellow light fell across their faces. Both wore smiles, but each harbored his own schemes.
Udir wore a dark brown robe and a felt hat. Because he was so fat, the hat covered only a small portion of his head, making the whole outfit look utterly incongruous.
Joey had privately mocked Udir's taste more than once, but now he understood the reason behind it. This was acting—acting as a Dust Veil Master, to fully immerse himself in the role and digest the Potion.
This method of digesting Potions was no secret among Transcendents. An outsider like Joey had only just learned of it from Wade.
"I heard the Necromancer Sect attacked your home."
Joey frowned slightly and said bluntly, his tone hostile, "Udir, you don't need to beat around the bush. Whatever you want, come at me directly. Let her go."
Udir sighed and shook his head.
"What a shame. Mr. Keliwei was once a valiant warrior of the Empire, only to die like that."
Joey was impatient by nature. Alisa had already been missing for some time, and he still had no idea what had happened to her. He had no patience left for Udil's games.
"Coffee or black tea?"
Udir opened the drinks cabinet, speaking gently.
Joey forced down his agitation and said nothing.
He had never held the initiative from the start. That feeling was truly unbearable, and bitterness showed on Joey's face.
Grayish-brown eyes glanced at Joey, and Udil said softly:
"Green tea, then. It'll help you calm down."
He boiled water and brewed the tea. Soon, a steaming cup sat on the table before Joey.
"I injured quite a few of your men just now."
Seated directly opposite him, Udir reclined against the sofa with an exquisite teacup in hand. He took a small sip and smiled unhurriedly.
"That's nothing. It wouldn't matter even if you killed them."
His casual tone made it sound like something utterly inconsequential. It was contempt for human life.
Joey's expression darkened. That made his earlier restraint seem foolish.
Were all Dust Veil Masters this twisted? Their ability removed all filth within a certain area. They were also called cleaners, though the "cleaning" in question referred to mental corruption.
Digesting their Potions required contact with mentally ill patients, which also drove many Dust Veil Masters mad themselves.
From Sequence 9 to Sequence 0, every Sequence of the Pathway of Light possessed the power of Purification. They could be considered the Necromancer Sect's greatest enemies.
As Sequence 9 of the Pathway of Light, Dust Veil Master was also its starting Sequence. Advancing was extremely difficult, because many could not withstand mental corruption and went insane.
Strangely, although he had not touched the tea, its drifting fragrance reached his nose and brought him a moment of peace.
A faint tea fragrance slipped into his nose. His agitation gradually eased, and his mind quickly grew calm.
"Nice, isn't it? This is the good stuff, smuggled out of the inner city."
Joey sniffed. Tea seemed more popular in this world than the dregs of liquor.
"Don't worry. That girl is safe right now. I haven't touched her, nor would I dare to."
Udir's voice was very soft, as though it came from every direction.
The clarity in Joey's mind abruptly vanished. He discovered with a start that everything around him was twisting and warping. Some objects even floated into the air, as though an invisible pair of hands were manipulating them. A sensation of weightlessness washed over him, and he slumped limply.
"Mental corruption?"
This was his first firsthand experience of a Dust Veil Master's ability. After a brief spell of dizziness, Joey found that the vertigo invading his mind had vanished.
This is nothing compared to the maddening whispers from the Endless Sea, Joey thought in puzzlement as he watched quietly.
Udir slowly rose, his grayish-brown eyes brimming with cold malice.
"Tell me where you hid 'Hope.'"
"Hope" was the name Joey and Alisa had given their newly cultivated seeds.
Those subjected to a Dust Veil Master's mental corruption would enter a state of subconscious slumber.
Udir often used this method to digest his Potion, and he was thoroughly adept at it.
The moment he captured Alisa and saw her brownish-cream hair, a color distinctive to nobles, he knew he had probably become embroiled in a feud between aristocrats.
Already aboard the pirate ship, he had no room for hesitation. He could only follow this path to the bitter end. He had intended to kill Alisa to eliminate future trouble, and only when she realized the danger had she revealed the existence of the "Hope" seeds.
Human desire could expand without limit. Udir, who had initially wanted only to protect himself, soon began plotting something else. To that end, he carefully prepared everything for Joey's arrival.
After a little thought, Joey understood that this must have been Alisa's stopgap measure. He therefore played along with Udir's questions and replied:
"There's no stock of those. Alisa and I have to prepare them ourselves."
He deliberately pretended to be hypnotized, using this excuse to give himself more bargaining power. Only then could he ensure Alisa's safety.
"How are the seeds prepared?"
"Do you have a formula?"
"How many successful experimental seeds do you have in reserve?"
Udir pressed him anxiously.
His eyes vacant, Joey answered in a daze:
"There's no stock. Only one succeeded."
His expression suddenly shifted, showing the pain of a struggle-a sign that he was about to awaken.
Although anxious, Udir ultimately had no choice but to stop.
Everything that defied reason returned to normal. Joey feigned bewilderment, then glared warily at Udir.
"What did you do to me? A Dust Veil Master's hypnosis?"
Udir spread his hands with an ambiguous smile, then returned to his seat. Picking up his now-cold tea, he said calmly:
"Nothing. Just a little experiment."
Before Joey could speak again, he continued:
"We can discuss working together."
"Working together?" Joey sneered and interrupted him. "Mr. Beckett, I don't know what you mean by that, but shouldn't all of this begin with a show of good faith?"
Udir set down his cup and clapped lightly. A small door at the back opened, and Alisa was brought out.
"Clive! Is that enough good faith?"
Dressed in an exquisite court gown, her hair golden, Alisa looked beautiful and poised with her disguise removed.
Astonished, Joey ran over and circled Alisa.
Seriously? I spent all that time worrying, and you're here...
You call this a kidnapping?
Alisa lifted her skirt and twirled, gazing at Joey with smiling, crescent-shaped eyes.
"Joey, do I look pretty?"
He froze, gave an awkward little cough, and turned his gaze toward Udir.
"How do you want to work together?"